Another 5.30am wake up call for a 9am EasyJet flight to Glasgow, we definitely took for granted living 15 minutes from the airport in Adelaide. A flight out of Gatwick means a bus to Brixton Station, a tube to Victoria station then the half hour Gatwick Express which comes with the hefty price tag of £20, that’s about 40 bucks, must stop doing conversions…

What should have been a cruisey trip to the airport and a quick flight turned into a race against time to connect power at my apartment in Prospect by Wednesday so a photographer could take pics and the apartment could be on the market by the 17th… hmmm, I do like to make things hard for myself! So after calls to Simply Energy – needed a meter number – call SA Power Networks – can’t find the meter number – trawl through a million emails and with bum in seat on the plane finally submit an application for AGL to connect by the 16th, literally hitting submit as the plane is taxing down the runway, phew… nothing like trying to organise an apartment for sale from the other side of the world.

Finally in Glasgow, for me it’s into the city for a day of exploring with Kyles off to work to show them how it’s done. Having done zero research on what to do in Glasgow, besides search for Jamie from Outlander, thank god for the Trip Advisor top 10 list of things to do. Three days, surely I can get them all done??

Having decided to be a lazy arse and take the super tourist shortcut of using the Hop On Hop Off bus to see the sites, blonde Holly forgot that in an off season they probs don’t run too often. So after standing at a bus stop for too long, I finally read the schedule, oh, bus will be here in an hour… Decided to leg it to the Cathedral and Necropolis, 25 minutes, why not. With zero workouts since arriving, I needed to work off the ribs and wings anyway.

So here’s where the half dodgy perspective of Glasgow arose, all googles fault really. The google route took me through some questionable streets where things looked mighty dodgy and I wondered where the hell I had landed. From first floor up, beautiful old ornate buildings, but ground floor, dodgy looking shops with laminated hand written signs in the windows. Note how I’ve conveniently taken pics from first floor up..

Once I found the Cathedral and Necropolis I was jaw droppingly stunned (yes I know droppingly isn’t a word but it works). The Cathedral was gorgeous, as expected, but the Necropolis was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Wow.

Like how I eat my dinner, saving the best for last, I explored the Cathedral first, and it was stunning. Like the Gothic architecture of Westminster Abbey but without all the gaudy gold everywhere. In its simplicity, I liked it better than the Abbey. And unlike the Abbey, photos were allowed so I got my photographer vibe on and pretended I knew what I was doing. Haven’t downloaded the SLR pics yet so just iPhone pics for now. Considering how crap an iPhone takes pictures, and how gorgeous the Cathedral looks in the pics I did take, you can imagine how stunning it was for reals…

So after being directed to some dodgy public toilets in a back alley car park, and surviving, I ventured into the Necropolis. I guess that’s a fancy word for a cemetery on a hill… or wait, Google says a Necropolis is “a cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an ancient city”. Coolies.

Wandering up the winding paths to the top, and having to back track a few times when I ended up back the bottom, I was in awe of just how gorgeous it was. And moving. I always find myself emo at a cemetery but this time reading tombstone dedications that dated back to the 1800’s and marveling at the sculptures that adorned the graves, I was emo in a good way. Love and loss is eternal. No one, no matter how rich or poor, is faced with the challenge. Of course, it makes a difference when you can afford to erect a 20 foot monument to the person you love, guess it makes it seem like they had more of an impact on the world. A madly emotional time and actually thankful I was by myself so I didn’t have to speak or try put into words how I was feeling. Was also glad the Necropolis wasn’t in Finland where the sun doesn’t rise, was getting creepy vampire vibes and I ain’t no Buffy… wish I was… lots and lots of shameless selfies, one of my fave places I’ve been to.

Also some gorgeous views across Glasgow that were quite in contrast – in one direction, what looked like the blue collar district with smoking chimneys then in the other direction, old Glasgow, with the Cathedral and beautiful old buildings adorning the skyline.

Once again I could have stayed for hours but although I was rugged up in thermals, scarves and a kick arse winter jacket, I was freeeeeezing. Standing in the rain, I found the nearest coffee shop and bolted. Crap coffee but good WiFi. Booked my tour for the next day and did life maintenance. Probs spent way too long there considering I only paid £1.80 for the coffee.

Working through my Trip Advisor list, next stop was the Glasgow Science Centre. Although shut, today I was more interested in seeing the architecture then being a nerd. Have nearly nerded myself out on this trip. Was all proud for getting the bus, then missed my bloody stop and had to walk in freezing wind back to the docks where the science centre sat. Uh, really?? My reaction. Couple of silver domes that were kinda rusty. Hindsight, my lack of interest was probs more to do with being freezing and hungry. I’m sure a happy tourist would have found them pretty cool…

I had planned to get over to the transport museum, another supposed architectural masterpiece, but walking across the bridge and feeling frost bite developing on my hands, I decided a far away dodgy pic would do… and one from Google so future me could kick myself for not visiting…

At this point, I really should have given in and caught an Uber to my next stop but I’m stubborn as hell and kinda broke… so once again freezing and walking through dodgyville I was pleasantly surprised to stumble on some pretty cool street art. Ok, so maybe Glasgow has some charm.

I believe in signs from the heavens above so when I saw a cafe lit up with fairy lights I knew it was my next stop, then when I saw the name of the place, I knew someone up there was having a laugh… What was no joke was how delicious the French onion soup was, look at this and feel your mouth water…

Finally at Trip Advisors #1 stop, Kelvinhall, Glasgow’s infamous museum. Having had my fill of museums, I instead stood and marveled at the gorgeous building until the sun peeked through and once again I was stunned by how gorgeous the setting was. Wow. In hindsight, should have checked if they had dinosaurs.

Nearing the end of my tether and losing feeling in my fingers, I headed to the University of Glasgow. Kicked myself when I got there. It was like stepping into a real Hogwarts, magical with the yellow glowing windows, gothic architecture and towers. Should have skipped the dodgy silver shells and headed here sooner. Looking like a tired student myself, I felt at home wandering around the uni and stumbling on a beautiful archway hall of fairy lights. More signs from above? Maybe I could find myself finishing my psych honours here??? Do love a Scottish accent and Glasgow is only half dodgy…

Somehow being colder than when I was in Finland foot deep in snow, I called it a day and headed to the Horseshoe Bar to wait for Kyles. Another Trip Advisor recommended place to visit, I kinda expected more… yeah it had a massively long horseshoe shaped bar but the place was kinda dodgy. I did at this point think that maybe it was me that was dodgy, or at least my mood was… one non dodgy thing to come out of the day, banoffee Digestives biscuits, yuuuuum…. defs didn’t do enough walking to burn them all off!

Monday 14th January 2019.